The time has come to blog on many things: on shoes and ships and social web, on content, kings and celebrities.

Judging from the paltry coverage
of her funeral service by the world media at large, except by celebrity sites
like TMZ,
it looks like much has been already said and written
about the ‘Going Home’ ceremony of another of 20th century Icons, the
much loved pop singer Whitney
Houston. So what more is there to say?

There are many events and
occasions which have left indelible marks on human memory for the visuals and
voices they carried and in some cases for profound changes in world opinion and
attitude.

However, certain occasions like
the Kennedy assassination and the death of Princess Diana spring to mind as
events which left the world shocked out of wits and saddest at the time but
somehow despatched the real grief home only during the funerals, which were
grimmest of affairs in grandest of settings.

The funeral service of Whitney
Houston turned out be an ordinary affair in an ordinary church, yet caught the
attention of the world and evoked feelings of loss and bonding of a different
kind, which has made Whitney more endearing and human to millions of viewers
who have turned more sympathetic.

Like thousands of others, Whitney
Houston probably died of a quiet heart attack, after eating a ham burger with some
satisfaction. An ordinary event in the life of a celebrity, which shot out of
proportion and shocked the world thanks to the aura of negativity given by the
media and the instant technology at its disposal today.

The bottom line is, Whitney actually
belonged to a station in life which is home for a large majority of the people
in the world. Like in the case of Lady Diana, it was the special corner of love and sympathy Whitney
somehow managed to secure in the hearts of millions which sent the pain around
in huge dollops rather than the heights she could carry her music with her
wonderful melisma.

That is why, the ‘Going Home’
ceremony so affectionately and caringly organised by her mother and relatives
turned out to be something the world could watch and relate to and something
which would have made Whitney Houston enormously happy.

It was in fact a Home Coming
celebration for some one who completed a very successful journey in life which
Whitney Houston, accomplished diva and singer was denied by her untimely death.
It was entirely in order to give her a send off where everyone could have
thanked her and she could have thanked everyone who helped her along and the
right thing to do.

More than anything else, the
speeches and the songs sung in her praise by other famous performers like
by Kevin Costner and Stevie
wonder have put on some wonderful colour and shades to the caricature,
perhaps somewhat distorted, the world had in its mind. At the end of that entire protracted event, the
diva of Newark had certainly come
out in shining armour as a sweet darling of the entire world, ready to be
carried off by the angels for the only performance Whitney Houston ever had to
give. Certainly Whitney Houston couldn’t have gone home happier!

Perhaps one of the biggest
rewards of living in the 20th century and carrying on in to the 21st
is the enormous shock, grief, despair, anger, excitement or joy one get to
share with the whole world simultaneously from events defining our times around
the world, which wouldn’t have been possible without the marvellous 20th
century inventions in communication.

The world is in shock
of loosing yet another music prodigy
of modern times!

It may be too soon to speak
without being disrespectful to the departed, but whether the diva, famous for
her sensational concert exits often with her signature piece “I will always love you” wished it to be
or not, her death in reality has turned in to her grandest of exits!

According to reports
her body was removed only around midnight
from her hotel room. Has this given her a chance to share an exceptional honour
even in death? Whitney’s mother, Cissy
Houston, spoke to her on the telephone half an hour before she died and Miss
Houston was said to have been looking forward to the party.

“A
surreal scene unfolded at the hotel as the party continued while Miss Houston's
body remained in her room on the fourth floor, which was sealed off with yellow
police tape.”

No one in history, except Julius Caesar,
perhaps had his or her praise sung to the world and immortalised, while the soul
which was separated from the body must have been looking down on it and smiling
in greatest of joy at the fulfilment of the life just ended.

"Whitney
Houston, simply put, had the greatest voice in the world. She was a gift of
God. Hearing her sing was like listening to magic. If it wasn't for Clive Davis,
the world may not have known about this miracle voice," Combs

It must sound cruel and uncaring
to think of still holding a party
when an invited has just departed, especially if it happened in the next room.
But in the case of Whitney, who has been honoured with six Grammy awards, it
was not just a party she was supposed to attend that evening, it was her mentor
and music producer Clive Davis's customary pre-Grammy party, typically one of
the most fun-filled highlights of the week leading to the music industry's top awards
ceremony

For Whitney, it would have been a
party held by her mentor who made her the Whitney Houston the whole world pines
for, where she would have found herself the happiest. How could Whitney have
asked it to be stopped, if her soul could, it would have sung “I will always
love you” for all in the party hall to hear!

"Simply
put, Whitney would have wanted the music to go on and her family asked that we
carry on,"

Though some statements have been issued by the coroner about the cause
of Whitney’s tragic death, and we may never ever know exactly, one thing seems
to be true. Whitney Houston may not have asked for it but God has granted her
the best stage she could have wished for a final performance.

It is that time of the year when
you start looking for anything which makes you feel good and forget the misery
of the year gone by. It is the time when you search for and dust off the covers
of old audio and video cassettes, nuggets of nostalgia locked up in shelves and
boxes because whether you like it or not, strains of Christmas music everywhere
fondle the weakest corners of your heart and you slowly succumb to the euphoria
of the festive season.

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LASTING ROSE is the personal BLOG of Sreedhar Pillai
Shred Pillai
who works as a content provider and technical writer. Shred Pillai is also an avid blogger and Influencer who writes for Huffington Post, Technorati and CNN-IBN